Joseph Bull

Joseph Bull is a studio potter, throwing pots ranging from sculptural pieces to utility tableware. Hand-thrown on the wheel, Bull creates a range of tableware and kitchen pieces for Objects of Use, from mugs and pouring bowls to butter dishes and candle-holders.

After graduating from University College Falmouth with a degree in literature and creative writing in 2015, Joseph Bull walked past an empty building in Cornwall with a sign saying ‘pottery soon’ taped to the window — unbeknownst to him, it belonged to the sculptor and studio potter Michel Francois — who just so happened to be looking for someone to help him set up his new studio; and so began a year long apprenticeship. Upon completing his apprenticeship, Bull trained with Knighton Mill Pottery and volunteered at the Leach Pottery in St Ives, going on to complete a winter residency at Egyptian painter Mohamed Abla’s Fayoum art centre in Egypt, when he began to develop his own design approach to his pieces.

Now based in Oxfordshire, Bull has established his own studio in Oxfordshire, and is also part of a collective of ceramicists and potters who fire wood Anagama kilns at the Oxford University Kilns Project. Bull has built his own salt-glaze kiln from scratch, which imparts a unique quality to the pots he throws and fires, with a characteristic ‘orange peel’ surface which can create a broad range of beautiful colours and textures.